Pinecone Research Reviews and Features

Pinecone Research

85 Broad Street, New York, New York  10004 US
Tel: 800.864.1224   Contact: https://members.pineconeresearch.com/#/ContactUs
Operated by: The Nielsen Company, LLC

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KEY FEATURES:

> Pinecone Research sign up
> Reward types and amounts
> Product testing opportunities
> Is Pinecone Research legit?

Pinecone Research is a trusted leader in the survey panel industry. They are owned and operated by the market research company Nielsen, whose operations are headquartered in New York.

Pinecone Research focuses on improving the quality of tomorrow’s products through collecting research via paid surveys and product testing opportunities offered to consumers.

Pinecone Research Sign Up

Pinecone Research is an invitation-only survey panel, where members can earn rewards for participating in online surveys and product tests. Potential new members must be invited by other members to join, or they must find a join link posted on a website. SurveyPolice currently offers Pinecone Research signup links for Americans, Canadians, and people living in the UK: » Join Pinecone Research here.

To learn more about how to sign up for Pinecone Research, including tips on joining and why there are membership restrictions in place to begin with, check out our article on how to find an invitation to join Pinecone Research, as it should help answer any questions you may have about the process.

Reward Types and Amounts

For each survey successfully completed, Pinecone Research awards its members a minimum of 100 points, which equals $1.00 in your local currency. For example, Americans will earn $1.00 USD per survey, Canadians typically earn $1.00 CAD per survey, while Britons earn £1 per survey completion. There are a variety of rewards options that accumulated points can be exchanged for. These include:

• Bank Transfer - Pinecone offers cash payments issued via bank transfer. When selecting this option, you will be asked to create a 'wallet' on a third-party payment processor website. Once set up, you can request a cash payment deposited directly into your bank account. Payments are issued in $10, $5, and $3 increments (which can be in different quantities; ex. 4 x $3 = $12). Bank transfers are typically issued within 48 hours of request, but can take up to 3-5 business days.

• Amazon e-Cards - You can choose to receive an Amazon gift card with your collected points. The e-card will be sent directly to your email account.

• Other Gift Cards - Pinecone Research offers a variety of gift card options including Starbucks, Apple Store, Walmart gift cards, as well as many others. Gift cards may be digital or in physical format and are listed under these categories.

• Merchandise - Pinecone Research offers an extensive merchandise catalog consisting of various small electronics, household items and more. Merchandise rewards will be mailed directly to your home.

• Prepaid Virtual Visas – prepaid Visa cards are available for redemption, however, they may only available to US residents.

Redeeming Rewards

To redeem your rewards, simply visit the Pinecone Research website and log in to your account. From there, click the "Redeem" button to access the reward site. Under the SHOP tab next to HOME tab, select the reward items you wish to redeem and once you click on an item you are interested in, click the shopping cart icon to add the item to your cart. Click the shopping cart icon on the right side of the page to complete your order.

Note that PayPal is no longer offered as a rewards option and was replaced by bank transfers.

Earn your First Check/Bank Transfer Automatically

Once you complete your first survey, which is always worth a minimum of 100 points, Pinecone Research will automatically send you a check for $1.00 to the mailing address on your profile, or will ask you to cash out via bank transfer. This is a security measure to establish your profile and account. After your first check/bank transfer (or 30 days of being an active Pinecone member, whichever comes first), you will have the option to choose the form in which you would like to receive your future rewards.

Survey Types

Interesting online surveys are e-mailed to members, and are on a variety of different topics. As a Pinecone Research member, you are part of an elite group that represents consumers and households like yours nationwide. Your opinion is important to manufacturers who count on people like you to help predict which products will be developed and which may not be suited for launch. Paid surveys opportunities usually take about 15 to 20 minutes of your time to complete and you will be notified by e-mail when one becomes available.

Product Testing Opportunities

Occasionally, Pinecone may mail out products for their members to test from home. These may be physical products, or food items that may come delivered in a cooler. A follow-up survey is usually provided as part of the product test. These opportunities are highly sought after, as you may receive free food (or a product that you might be able to keep), as well as a paid follow up survey!

Pinecone Research App

If you prefer to take surveys on the go, you can download the Pinecone Research app onto your iOS or Android mobile device. The app will allow you to view available surveys, take online surveys, view and redeem your points, view your account history and more. Just remember to first join the Pinecone Research panel itself before attempting to take surveys through the app!

Quick Customer Service

If you have a question on anything Pinecone Research-related, do not hesitate to send in an inquiry through the website. The response time is usually 1-3 business days, or even quicker depending on the workload of employees during the time of your question.

Is Pinecone Research Legit?

Pinecone Research is legitimate and is not a scam. This survey program is over fifteen years old and has paid out millions of dollars in rewards to its members. Pinecone offers quality paid surveys and product tests to its members and is known for offering fair rewards. Operated by Nielsen, a market research leader, Pinecone Research is not a scam and is a completely legitimate website.

Eligibility: Available in select countries including USA, UK, Canada, Pinecone Research is an invitation-only panel.

Please note that PInecone Research has been targeted by a cashier's check scam. If you receive a large, unexpected check seemingly from Pinecone, DO NOT attempt to cash it!

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Pinecone Research Reviews (695)

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March 24, 2020 by Kathy from United States

I use to love Pinecone Research until I started to get sick with Diabetes and was not able to participate in surveys as often as I use to. I informed the staff at Pinecone Research and they blocked my account. I asked them to consider restoring my account but they would not. I had a terrible experience with them.

March 21, 2020 by David from United States

Pinecone Research had treated me well in the past but they recently closed my account after being with them for 5+ years, completing hundreds of surveys and saving over $100 in points and they have yet to respond to multiple messages I have sent them. I will leave a more detailed review once they ever respond. Or if..

Update on March 20th, 2020: They did respond and resolved the issue a few days ago. I had suspected the reason it was closed was because my kids were delinquent in actually finishing the surveys. I think Pinecone likes all surveys offered to be completed. They only send 2-3 a month so it's not a hassle. The surveys are well-designed and fairly short. And I would give the kids $5 for completing surveys since $3 isn't much for a kid to sit still for very long, at least mine. Anyways, it turns out that actually I just needed to update my personal information! I think the system they use to respond to inquiries is partially automated. Plus, they updated their website recently so maybe other things are going on behind the scenes. Whatever. I suggest not to accrue points for very long, though. This seems like it's bad to do with any survey panel. There are cool items in their catalog but they are also cheaper elsewhere. In any case, some other panels won't work to resolve issues, at all. At least they did resolve mine eventually.

March 18, 2020 by Tasha from United States

I have been a member of Pinecone Research for over a year now and always received emails and was always provided with payment to my account until the beginning of January. Like others, My account is listed as "No Record Found" and I've now sent emails 3-4 times (but the email address listed is an unmonitored account). I am not sure how to process and reactivate my account as I have $108 in there. Some have reported them to BBB and that is my next step if I cannot get through.

March 14, 2020 by Lisa from United States

I have been an active member of Pinecone Research for 2+ years, with multiple payouts and have never thought of leaving until recently.

I have been contacted last month (on the 2/27) for a survey opportunity, but when I tried to log in using the provided link I got a message saying "No Record Found". I had not deleted my account nor been notified of my account being deleted - so I figured I'd go under forgot password and received this message: "Unable to access account". I had figured this was a website glitch and gave it a few days, but even now - at the date of this review (3/11) - it is still happening.

I know my account IS active because when I go under forgot user ID it says "if an account exist instructions will be sent with further instructions", and I do receive an email. In this email contains a link to reset the password, which does NOT work. At the bottom of this email it says QUOTE: "If you are still having issues logging into your account, simply reply to this email (with a screenshot if possible) so that we can take an in-depth look at the issue you are experiencing, to investigate further."; so I did as this said and replied to that email with a screenshot explaining what is happening. I get an automatic reply:

"Hello, It looks like you’ve tried to contact us through direct email. Please note that this is an unmonitored Inbox. The best way to contact us is to go to our website [LINK] and use the “Contact Us” form so that your request gets routed to the correct department."

So, they are having you reply to an unmonitored inbox, even though that is what they instruct you to do.

I had contacted them about a week or so ago using the contact us page on the website and have never heard back, whereas when I contacted them when I was able to log in I heard back within 3 days.

Pinecone Research used to be a wonderful survey website, it is truly a shame they went downhill.

My final opinion: If you are looking for a responsible survey company to work with, this is NOT it

UPDATE 3/13: Have contacted twice more and got the same auto responses.

February 27, 2020 by Willard from United States

I like this site very much. The lady that runs this is very nice. She is very hard to get her to talk to you on the phone. So don't expect that. However, 99% of website owners don't want to take the time.

But the few times I had problems she responded to my emails with a week. I'd she averages within 72 hours. So far she resolves 90% of them for me. The 10% she didn't was sort of out of her control it seemed. Not sure that is so but that is my opinion.

You don't always get a survey project every day but usually an average of 1-2 a week.

I suggest you try to get to be selected to be a member. You will not automatically get a membership. You must be I think I remember to be sponsored. I forget just how you get selected. I've been a member of around 10 years now. I just don't remember the date I joined.